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tha-ap.519 Thera Apadana

Kuṭajapupphiya

In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Cāvala.
The Buddha named Sudassana
was living on the mountainside.

Taking Himalayan flowers,
I traveled through the sky back then.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
the Flood-Crosser, the Undefiled.

Taking a winter-cherry bloom,
I placed it on his head just then.
I offered it to the Buddha,
the Self-Become One, the Great Sage.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I offered him that flower,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint.

Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught!

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Kuṭajapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Kuṭajapupphiya Thera is finished.

- Translator: Jonathan S. Walters

- Editor: Ayya Vimala